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UWTSD AND P&W ANNOUNCE JV PARTNERSHIP ON WORLD WATER DAY

10 April 2017

University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Power & Water
are delighted to announce the launch of a joint venture partnership
today on World Water Day (March 22).

The exciting collaboration, under the brand-name ‘PURO’, strengthens a
two-year relationship between the University and the Swansea-based
technology company, which for the past 20 years has been pioneering the
design, development and manufacture of water and wastewater treatment
solutions using electricity.

Puro, will be based in the offices of Technium 1 in the University’s SA1 Swansea Waterfront, where it will focus on delivery of new, sustainable, clean-technology products and services to meet the rising global demand for safe, clean water worldwide.

The joint venture partnership has evolved from the Integrated Master
Course in Applied Environmental Engineering developed between Power
& Water and UWTSD two years ago. This course offers students an
unique holistic approach from defining an environmental problem to
developing its solution including engagement with third-party companies,
project and process management and an insight to the commercial world
and entrepreneurship.

The partnership is the latest to be undertaken by UWTSD as it seeks
to co-locate and collaborate with industry in order to launch joint
ventures and accelerator schemes to grow new and fledgling companies.
This initiative is taken forward ahead of the University’s new SA1
Swansea Waterfront development which aims to creating more opportunities
for students to integrate their academic study with intensive,
industry-specific on-the-job training, making them ‘employable and
future ready.

Philip Morgan, the CEO and Co-founder of Power & Water, and a
Professor of Practice at the University met recently with Professor
Medwin Hughes, DL, Vice-Chancellor to launch the PURO brand in an
international market place.

Professor Hughes, said: “The partnership with Professor Morgan and
Power and Water is an excellent example of the way in which we are
redefining our offer to ensure that our students and graduates are
developing the specific skills needed by our employers. It signifies a
step change for university education as it encourages co-ownership and
co-development of the curriculum. Already the partnership is leading to
exciting developments in the area of green technology and sustainable
solutions which have the potential to be game-changers across the
world.”

Professor Philip Morgan said: “I was first attracted to UWTSD by
their pragmatic, hands-on approach to Engineering (Mechanical &
Electrical) and Architecture (including Environment & Software) and
felt that if we could combine these disciplines we could produce an
exciting multi-disciplinary Masters course. PURO is the result of this
successful partnership and paves the way for long term collaboration
between UWTSD and Power & Water and a source of well-rounded,
employable postgraduates. The success of an enterprise is measured by
the views of external parties, and I’m pleased with the continued
support that we receive from UK Coal Authority for our mine water
treatment research and the interest that major charities working in some
of the world’s most challenging environments have expressed in working
with PURO to develop humanitarian water treatment products and
processes.”

It is especially apt that the launch of PURO coincides this year with
World Water day and Guy Ryder, chair of UN-Water, mission statement on
the power of individuals to change the world with regard to taking
action to tackle the global water crisis:-

“Do what you can, do it with others and do it with passion.”

*World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about taking action to tackle the water crisis. Today, there are over 663 million people living without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless hours queuing or trekking to distant sources, and coping with the health impacts of using contaminated water.

The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015, include a target
to ensure everyone has access to safe water by 2030, making water a key
issue in the fight to eradicate extreme poverty.
Further information about World Water Day can be found in the link below
http://www.worldwaterday.org/